Body removed from collapsed bridge site

By Opalyn Mok

GEORGE TOWN, June 7 — A body trapped underneath the rubble of the collapsed ramp of the Second Penang Bridge in Batu Maung, Penang, was pulled out at 8.40pm this evening and sent to the Penang Hospital for post mortem.
Penang deputy police chief SAC Datuk Abd Rahim Jaafar said the family of the victim will have to identify him at the Penang Hospital.
A few minutes after the body was removed and whisked away in black body bag in a police truck, a man, believed to be the victim’s brother, fainted and was taken away in an ambulance.
The group of family members also followed the police truck with the body to the hospital.
Abd Rahim said it is possible that the man who fainted had identified the victim through the clothes he was wearing.
The police and Fire and Rescue Department personnel will continue to search the site for any other possible victims under the debris.
“There is only one body in the car that we removed from the rubble,” he said.
The deceased is believed to be former cop Tajudin Zainal Abidin, but Abd Rahim said the family members will only make a positive identification later tonight.
The Fire and Rescue Department will also bring in a canine unit from Kuala Lumpur to sniff out any other possible casualties in the incident.
Department Deputy director Mohamad Shoki Hamzah said there could be a possibility of other victims buried underneath the rubble.
“We had initially used hydraulic jacks, but the ground was too soft so we had to lift the beam, cut it and then pull the car out from the rubble,” he said.
The body was removed more than 24 hours after the incident when a section of the ramp collapsed onto the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway yesterday.
Three other people were injured and so far, only one victim was confirmed killed in the incident.
The collapsed ramp is part of the Batu Maung Interchange project, which is Paqckage 3A of the Second Penang Bridge project undertaken by local contractor Cergas Murni.
Bridge concessionere Jambatan Kedua Sdn Bhd (JKSB) and the Penang Island Municipal Council both ordered the contractor to stop work immediately.